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Napoli want their clash with Barcelona be moved to Portugal amid fears of coronavirus outbreak in Catalonia
- Napoli insist that their return tie against Barcelona should be played away from Spain
- The Italian side are concerned over the spike in cases of coronavirus in the Catalan city
- Mental Health and Psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic
Napoli insist that their Champions League tie should be played away from Spain.
The Italian side are adamant that their return tie against Barcelona should be played elsewhere and not in Spain.
The two teams played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Naples in February and they are due to play the second leg at the Nou Camp on August 8.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has called for his side’s tie be moved to Portugal because of a rise in coronavirus cases in Catalan City.
Napoli are concerned over the safety of playing the match in Barca with De Laurentiis suggesting it should be moved to Portugal.
The Sun reports that De Laurentiis said:
‘I hear a lot of perplexity and fear coming from Spain and they’re acting like nothing is wrong,’
‘What does it take to say, “Don’t go to Barcelona but rather go to Portugal, Germany or Geneva?”
‘If they’ve decided to play the Champions League in Portugal and the Europa League in Germany, I think we can go to Portugal or Germany for the round of 16.
‘I don’t understand why it should stay in a city that has a really critical situation.’
The other last-16 second legs are due to take place at their original venues with Manchester City set to play Real Madrid at the Etihad on August 7 while Juventus will take on Lyon in Turin on the same day.
